WINSTON-SALEM – A sports and entertainment focused private equity firm closed its fund from further investment after raising $68 million.

Teall Capital Partners, based in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, with offices in Atlanta and San Francisco, was formed in fall 2017 by Ben C. Sutton Jr., a 2017 inductee into the North Carolina Sports Hall of Fame.

Sutton said this first raise exceeded the fund’s financial objective, and that it focused solely on individual and family investments despite receiving interest from larger institutional investors.

Teall Capital

The firm’s portfolio includes Dyehard Fan Supply, a sports merchandiser formed by Teall in December 2017. Dyehard currently handles game day and event merchandising for over 30 clients, including colleges like UNC-Chapel Hill and Auburn University, the World Equestrian Games and worldwide endurance competition Tough Mudder.

Rex Hough, who leads business development efforts for all Teall businesses, serves as CEO of Dyehard.

Teall also holds controlling ownership of Sunshine Beverages, a Winston-Salem based alternative energy drink provider. Sunshine products currently are offered at almost 3,000 retail outlets including Kroger, QuikTrip and Publix.

Another Teall investment, hospitality and tailgate service provider Tailgate Guys, grew from six partners to over 40 since Teall’s investment. Tailgate Guys now coordinates game day tailgating services for Alabama University, University of Southern California, University of Texas at Austin and other colleges across the country.

Wes Day, a partner with Teall, said it limited its focus in the initial year to individual strategic investors, many of whom had background in sports, entertainment or lifestyle branding.

“The capital raised thus far will allow us to make acquisitions and continue to provide strong support for those companies already partially- or fully-acquired,” Day said.

Previous to starting Teall Capital, Sutton was chairman and CEO of IMG College, the largest college sports sponsorship and media company in America.

Prior to IMG, Sutton spent 18 years as chairman and CEO for ISP Sports, which he founded in 1992.

This story is from the North Carolina Business News Wire, a service of UNC-Chapel Hill’s School of Media and Journalism